Improvements to VA care needed

In February, President Barack Obama signed into law the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, designed to provide more timely and effective care for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health issues.

Hunt, the man for whom the bill was named, was honorably discharged from the Marines in April 2009. He received just a 30 percent disability rating for his PTSD from Veterans Affairs. Unable to keep a steady job, he appealed the rating and looked to the VA for help.

After moving to Houston, he had to wait months to see a psychiatrist, and found the VA there so stressful that he vowed not to go back. In March of 2011, he took his own life at the age of 28. Five weeks after his death, and 18 months after filing an appeal with the VA, his PTSD was rated at 100 percent.

According to the American Public Health Association, nearly 50 percent of combat veterans from Iraq reported they have suffered from PTSD. Estimates from the year 2010 were that 22 veterans a day died as a result of suicide. Yet, studies showed as many as 87 percent of service members experiencing psychological distress after deployment report not receiving psychological help.

Clearly, we need to do better. The good news is that help is on the way.

The new VA community-based outpatient clinic, scheduled to open in Las Cruces in the coming year, will provide additional space for the treatment of local veterans. The clinic is currently looking to hire two mental health social workers, one primary care physician and a clerk.

The El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System overall is making a concerted effort to beef up its mental health treatment capacity. The system is in the process of hiring an additional 2.4 psychiatrists; one supervisory psychiatrist; three psychologists; one family-nurse practitioner in mental health; one pharmacist; five social workers; two licensed professional mental health counselors, and two supervisory social workers.

We are making important strides in helping our veterans. In Las Cruces, city government worked with private social service agencies this year to eliminate homelessness among our community’s veterans. We became one of 13 American cities to reach a level called “functional zero” for homeless veterans.

Clearly, these two efforts go hand in hand.

We have a special obligation to the men and women who were injured while fighting for our country. That obligation is the same whether the injuries were mental or physical.

We look forward to the opening of the new VA center in the coming year and to the help it will provide for veterans in our community.